Telescopes are pretty useless unless you know where to point them. Before purchasing an expensive telescope, I recommend working with a good pair of binoculars to get to know not only the night sky but also the “seeing” conditions of your location.
Which telescope you purchase is going to depend on where you live, what you want to look at, and your budget.
Beginner telescopes:
- For kids: 8” Dobsonian Telescope
For adults: (it’s going to depend what you want to look at)
- 8” Newtonian Reflector (easy to use, good all-around scope for deep sky objects, planets, moon)
- 8″ Schmidt-Cassegrain (more compact, good all-around scope for planets, galaxies, nebulae, astrophotography)
- 90mm Refractor (harder to use, best for planets and moon observing)
